Powerful Portables - How Do Some Popular Nutrition Bars Stack Up?

7/28/2020

Whether you’re travelling or not, the nutrition bar is a staple for many of us. But what makes a good nutrition bar? For this post, I’ve teamed up with coach Steve Wheatherholt, L3 CrossFit trainer, host of the podcast Let’s WOD About It and nutrition coach at Blackbird CrossFit in Eldersburg, MD. Steve has very strong nutritional knowledge and I wouldn’t write a piece of this nature without his expertise to offer a full picture.

We looked at several nutrition bars for this writeup. There’s some practical pros and cons, as well as some deeper nutritional details for you. We’ll look at different aspects including quality, ingredients, taste, travel-ability, nutrition – protein/fat/carbs and other important points.

We selected four bars to look at; Perfect Bar, Atlas Bar, RX Bar and One Bar. Here’s what we found.

Perfect Bar
The Perfect Bar is delicious. Their most popular (from what I’ve seen) is probably the dark chocolate peanut butter. There’s many flavors including coconut peanut butter, chocolate mint, chocolate walnut brownie and blueberry cashew, to name a few. Most of these bars will range from 10 – 17 grams of protein.

Pros:

There’s a wide range of products that include the bars, mini bars and peanut butter cups (that actually taste like peanut butter cups).
Most people love the taste of Perfect Bars. They’re made from natural ingredients and don’t taste processed at all.
They really fill you up. I’ll take one about an hour before a workout and I’ll have plenty of fuel.

Cons:

Calories are considerably higher than other bars. Usually over 300. That’s one of the reasons you feel full when you eat one. But, if used properly, they can be a very good fuel source.
You have to keep them refrigerated. I’ve had them melt and they aren’t as good all warm and mushy. But they’re excellent cold. They’re geat to have at home. If you’re travelling you’ll want to purchase them when you get wherever you’re going and put them in your hotel room fridge.
Availability can be hit-and-miss. Flavors can be limited, depending where you are. I can usually find the peanut butter, dark chocolate peanut butter and chocolate almond pretty consistently. I’ve found them at Aldi, many Wal-Marts and several different grocery stores. You’ll usually find them in the refrigerated case near yogurt or in the natural foods refrigerated section.
Prices can vary. Their online store actually seems to be the most expensive. Sometimes they offer special deals during the holidays. Grocery stores usually carry them for $2+ a bar. I’ve found them at Wal-Mart and Aldi for less than $2.

Nutrition Info:
Ingredients and nutritional content can vary from one bar to another.

Coach Steve’s Notes:
This is my personal favorite as far as taste goes. If I know I’m going to have a long stretch before my next meal, the perfect bar will get me through because of the higher fat content. Fat is a slow digesting macronutrient so it keeps you feeling full and energized for a long time.

Atlas Bar
The Atlas Bar is another very good-tasting bar with similar protein content to a Perfect Bar but with fewer calories. Atlas comes in six flavors including almond chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip and vanilla almond chai. Most bars have about 15 grams of protein.

Pros:

Most comment the taste of an Atlas Bar is very good. The consistency is a a little different than a Perfect or RX bar. It tastes slightly drier but it’s still very good (based on my testing and feedback from others).
The Atlas Bar uses natural ingredients.
They travel well. There is chocolate in some of them but as long as they don’t sit in a hot car, they should be fine.

Cons:

You can’t find the Atlas Bar in too many places at this point. I see them online and in some gyms but at least in my area of the country (mid-Atlantic), you’d be hard pressed to find them at a store.
These are one of your more expensive nutrition bars. A gym typically sells them for around $3.00. You can find them in bulk online for around $2.65 per bar but it’s more of an investment.

Nutrition Info:
Ingredients and nutritional content can vary from one bar to another.

Coach Steve’s Notes:
These are also high on my list as far as taste goes, but the price holds me back a lot with this one. Another one that’s great to get your through a long stretch between meals.

RX Bar
The RX Bar is easily the most widely available in this group. They’re made up of just a handful of ingredients, all of which are natural. There’s too many flavors to count. From chocolate sea salt, to peanut butter, to chocolate hazelnut. They’re pretty consistent on protein (around 12 grams) and come in at around 210 calories.

Pros:

There has to be over a dozen flavors of RX bars that can range from chocolate to various fruit flavors. They have seasonal flavors like pumpkin spice in the fall and gingerbread around the holidays.
I see RX Bars in many places; the grocery store, nutrition stores, convenience stores and airports to name just a few.
They can price for over $2 a bar but you can purchase a 4-pack at Target or Wal-Mart for about $6.50, which is about $1.65 per bar. There’s better deals in larger bulk like at Costco but the flavors are limited.
They travel very well. They’re pretty compact and again, so long as you don’t leave them in a hot car, they’re easy to take with you.

Cons:

I’ve found and have compared notes with others. Common feedback is the consistency can vary from one batch to another. Some are chewier than others. Sometimes the flavors can be slightly different. Sometimes they can have almost an oily coating on the outside. Most of the time it’s not an issue but sometimes there’s a notable difference.
One of the big complaints I hear consistently is they stick to your teeth. I personally find they don’t stick for long but some people just don’t like that.

Nutrition Info:
Ingredients and nutritional content can vary from one bar to another.

Coach Steve's Notes:
You really can’t beat the availability of the Rx Bar. This is my go-to on the road because it travels well and you can find them at almost any local gas station now for a great price. They are lower in calories than some so it’s my favorite choice before a workout. We want something that absorbs faster before a workout so your body can concentrate on exercising and not digesting food. As far as ingredients, I haven't come across anything cleaner than these either. Every ingredient is real food so you can enjoy a delicious snack and stay on track.

One Bar
One Bars is an option that I’m starting to see more. There’s a decent amount of flavors including birthday cake, cinnamon roll, lemon cake and white chocolate truffle, which lean a little more towards those with a sweet tooth. They all pack right around 20 grams of protein.

Pros:

One Bars have a good amount of flavors, often that other brands don’t. Aside from the above, there’s blueberry cobbler, almond bliss (kind of an almond/coconut), cookies and cream and even maple glazed donut.
You can usually find a lot of flavors in nutrition stores like Vitamin Shoppe. I’m starting to see limited flavors in the nutrition isle in many grocery stores and at Target.
If you’ve got a sweet tooth, there’s lots of options for you.
These bars do a decent job of filling you up and fueling you for a workout.
There’s really no refrigeration required here so they travel well.

Cons:

Some people are not as much of a fan of sweet as others. More importantly, One Bars don’t taste as natural as the other bars.
This brings us to ingredients. There’s a few ingredients in the One Bar that I can’t properly pronounce. Following the guideline of “eat real food”, there are some better choices.
These are a little more on the expensive side at around $2.30-$2.50 per bar. However, you can find them on sale.

Nutrition Info:
Ingredients and nutritional content can vary from one bar to another.

Coach Steve’s Notes:
While this bar is high in protein and has some more appealing flavors, there are several unnatural and added ingredients in this bar. It’s a better choice than some snack foods, but with so many healthier bar options we’ve talked about, this one isn't at the top of my list.

Some other great healthy snacks to have on the road with you or at home:

Beef jerky – High protein, low everything else. Travels well.
Almonds – Easy to take with you. Not as much protein but can help fill you when you need it.
Oikos Triple Zero Yogurt – 15 grams of protein, lots of flavors but you’ll need a refrigerator, of course.
Deli Lunch Meat – Also high protein and low everything else but you’ll need a fridge.
Protein Powder for a quick shake or smoothie. You can even add it to applesauce for a high protein snack on the go. Keep in mind that a powder could get noticed at a TSA check point. Better if you can travel with it in single-serving packs.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment on this post or email me directly at dropindiary@gmail.com. Special thanks to coach Steve Weatherholt.

Wishing you safe, healthy and successful travels.

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